Historically Black Colleges: List of HBCUs

Historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) are colleges or universities established with the mission of educating Black Americans, though the student body includes those of any race, ethnicity, or nationality. Typically, these higher learning institutions opened before the passage of the Higher Education Act of 1965. Many historically black colleges or universities offer postgraduate and four-year degrees, such as bachelor’s degrees in liberal arts or sciences. Through financial aid and athletics programs, these schools open doors to Black students who may not have had the same opportunities at a white institution.

Many HBCUs launched at a time when segregation separated white students from Black students. And while circumstances have changed, these schools continue to serve an important purpose in the education of Black students in the face of racism and discrimination. Today, there are about one hundred of these institutions that provide an alternative to predominantly white institutions (PWIs). Below, learn more about HBCUs in the US:

• Alabama State University: Founded in 1867, Alabama State University is an HBCU in Montgomery, Alabama. It originally went by the name of Lincoln Normal School.
• Albany State University: Located in Albany, Georgia, this school opened its doors in 1903. This university, a product of a merger between Darton State College and Albany State University, has one of the largest enrollments in the southern state.
• Alcorn State University: Started in 1871 as a way to educate the descendants of formerly enslaved people, Alcorn State University offers undergraduate to postgraduate degrees in Lorman, Mississippi.
• Benedict College: Bathsheba A. Benedict founded Benedict College, currently located in Columbia, South Carolina, in 1870.
  
• Bennett College: Bennett College started as a coeducational institution in 1872 when classes took place in the basement of a church. It is now a women's college in Greensboro, North Carolina.
• Bluefield State College: Funded in 1895, this institution—based in Bluefield, West Virginia—began as a way to offer higher education to the children of Black coal miners from the area. Notable figures like Langston Hughes, Duke Ellington, and Joe Louis visited the campus.
• Bowie State University: Located in Prince George’s County in Maryland, Bowie State Univrsity began in 1865 to offer schooling to Black students the state had failed. Bowie State is the oldest HBCU in Maryland and among one of the oldest in the country.
• Central State University: Central State University started in 1887 in Ohio as a two-year program within Wilberforce University.
• Cheyney University of Pennsylvania: Established in 1837, Cheyney University of Pennsylvania was first known as the African Institute. It went by other names in the following years—such as the Institute for Colored Youth, Cheyney Training School for Teachers, Cheyne State College—before it became known as the Cheyney University of Pennsylvania in 1983.
  
• Claflin University: Methodist missionaries founded this Orangeburg, South Carolina institution in 1869 to help formerly enslaved Africans. The school owes its name to Lee Claflin and his son William Claflin.
• Clark Atlanta University: Known as Atlanta University in its founding in 1865, this HBCU merged with Clark Atlanta University in 1988. The school, a private methodist HBCU, is in Atlanta, Georgia.
• Delaware State University: Founded as the Delaware College for Colored Students in 1891, this school is in Dover, Delaware.
• Dillard University: This university, established in 1869, is in New Orleans, Louisiana.
• Elizabeth City State University: In Elizabeth City, North Carolina, Elizabeth City State University (founded in 1891) serves abut 2,500 students per year.
• Fayetteville State University: This university, located in Fayetteville, North Carolina, began in 1867.
• Fisk University: Fisk University is in Nashville, Tennessee. Its founding in 1866 makes it the oldest higher education institution in the city of Nashville.
• Florida A&M University: Also known as Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University or FAMU, Florida A&M began in 1887. The school is in Tallahassee, Florida.
• Fort Valley State University: Fort Valley State University is in Fort Valley, Georgia, and opened its doors in 1895.
• Grambling State University: Established in 1901, this school is in Grambling, Louisiana.
• Hampton University: This school began on a small farm, called “Little Scotland,” in 1868.
• Harris-Stowe State University: Founded in 1857, Harris-Stowe State University is in Louis, Missouri.
• Howard University: Established in 1867, Howard University is in Washington, DC.
• Jackson State University: Jackson State University is in Jackson, Mississippi. The school, founded in 1877, is one of the largest HBCUs in the United States.
• Johnson C. Smith University: Founded in 1867, Johnson C. Smith University is in Charlotte, North Carolina.
• Kentucky State University: Kentucky State University is in Frankfort, Kentucky. When founded in 1886, it went by the State Normal School for Colored Persons.
• Langston University: The only HBCU in Oklahoma, Langston University traces back to 1897.
• Lincoln University (Missouri): Founded in 1866, Lincoln University first served as an educational program for solders after the Civil War.
• Lincoln University (Pennsylvania): Originally called the Ashmun Institute, Lincoln University was the first HBCU in the United States to offer degrees after receiving a charter from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania in 1854.
• Morehouse College: Located in Atlanta, Georgia, Morehouse began in 1867. The school belongs to the Atlanta University Center Consortium (AUC Consortium) of HBCU universities.
• Morehouse School of Medicine: Founded in 1975, Morehouse School Of Medicine is an HBCU medical school located in Atlanta, Georgia.
  
• Morgan State University: Located in Baltimore, Maryland, this college began in 1867 under the name Centenary Biblical Institute.
• Norfolk State University: Established in 1935, this institution is in Norfolk, Virginia.
• North Carolina A&T State University: North Carolina A&T State University began in 1891, then known as the Agricultural and Mechanical College for the Colored Race. It is in Greensboro, North Carolina.
• North Carolina Central University: North Carolina Central University started in 1910.
• Philander Smith College: Philander Smith College, located in Little Rock, Arkansas, is a private university affiliated with the United Methodist Church.
• Savannah State University: Savannah State University is in Savannah, Georgia. Founded in 1890, it is the oldest HBCU in Georgia.
• Shaw University: Shaw University is in Raleigh, North Carolina. The school, founded in 1865, is one of the oldest HBCUs in the southern United States.
• South Carolina State University: South Carolina State University is in Orangeburg, South Carolinal. It began in 1896.
• Spelman College: Spelman College is a private women’s HBCU in Atlanta, Georgia, located near the Morehouse School of Medicine, Morehouse College, and Clark Atlanta University. Founded in 1881, it went by the Atlanta Baptist Female Seminary.
• Stillman College: Stillman College is in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. It started in 1876.
• Talladega College: Founded in 1867, Talladega College is in Talladega, Alabama.
• Tennessee State University: Established in 1912 as the Tennesse Agricultural & Industrial State Normal Schools for Negroes. It is in Nashville, Tennessee.
• Texas Southern University: Texas Southern University is in Houston, Texas. Founded in 1927, it is one of the largest HBCUs in the United States.
• Tougaloo College: Tougaloo College is in Jackson, Mississippi. Missionaries founded it in 1860 to educate formerly enslaved people.
• Tuskegee University: Tuskegee University is in Tuskegee, Alabama. When established in 1891, it went by the Tuskegee Normal School for Colored Teachers.
• University Of Maryland Eastern Shore: University Of Maryland Eastern Shore is in Princess Anne, Maryland. It began in 1886.
• University of the District of Columbia: University of the District of Columbia started in 1851 as the Normal School for Colored Girls; it served as a teacher training program for young Black women.
• Virginia State University: Virginia State University is in Ettrick, Virginia and began in 1882.
• Virginia Union University: Established in 1865, Virginia Union University is in Richmond, Virginia.
• Wilberforce University: Named after abolitionist William Wiberforce, Wilberforce University opened its doors in 1856. It was one of the first colleges to have Black leadership.
• Wiley College: Wiley College is in Marshall, Texas, and began in 1873. The college enrolls roughly 1,400 students.
• Winston-Salem State University: Winston-Salem State University is in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Founded in 1892, it originally went by Slate Industrial Academy.
• Xavier University of Louisiana: Xavier University of Louisiana—located in New Orleans, Louisiana—is the only Catholic HBCU in the United States. It began in 1925.

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